Sean Fraser on The Environment

Sean FraserLiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands for her continued advocacy toward a healthier environment. As well, I extend my congratulations to Mr. Manly on his victory in the recent by-election and I look forward to his taking his seat in this House.

As the hon. member knows, Canada's first ministers came together in 2016 to agree, for the first time, on a national climate plan. This plan is setting us on the path to a better future and enabling us to find new ways to improve our health, our environment and our economy for our kids and grandkids.

With respect to the enormous number of Canadian students who took part in the strike for climate action, I thank them for their advocacy and ask them to talk to their families, because it has been demonstrated that one of the most persuasive ways to encourage people to change their views on climate change is to speak with their children about it.

Our plan, the pan-Canadian framework on clean growth and climate change, includes over 50 concrete measures to make things better, more efficient and more affordable for people. My own view is that we need to do as much as we can as fast as we can, and I look forward to the debates that will be coming up over the next two days in this chamber.

Since we have adopted our plan, we have worked tirelessly with our provincial and territorial partners, indigenous peoples, stakeholders and Canadians to address climate change, and we are starting to see real and meaningful progress. For example, we have new regulations to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas sector, reduce greenhouse gas emissions from heavy-duty vehicles and accelerate the phase-out of coal-fired electricity. By 2030, 90% of our electricity in Canada will be generated from non-emitting sources. This is important.

We have released the clean fuel standard regulatory design paper for consultation. We have invested billions of dollars in clean technology, innovation and green infrastructure to drive growth in the new economy while we reduce pollution. We have established a low-carbon economy fund to finance emission reductions projects in provinces and territories and launched a suite of programs to build Canada's resilience to a changing climate, including establishing the Canadian Centre for Climate Services to improve access to authoritative climate science and information.

The hon. member discussed the importance of relying on science. The great thing about it is that it is right whether we believe it or not, no matter the disagreement we have in this chamber. Of course, we have put a price on pollution across Canada, reducing our emissions by 50 million to 60 million tonnes by 2022. It is also going to help drive innovation in the clean-growth sector.

Our most recent emissions projections indicate that emissions in 2030 will be 223 million tonnes lower than what was projected prior to the creation of our climate plan. When it is fully implemented, it will not only allow Canada to meet the target it set for 2030, but position us to set and achieve deeper emissions reduction targets beyond 2030 that we know we need to achieve.

Canadians are asking us to do even more, and that is why we have created an advisory council on climate action to provide advice on how we can further reduce emissions from transportation and buildings. That is why budget 2019 included incentives for zero-emission vehicles, $1 billion toward energy efficiency in buildings and $5 billion to support clean electricity.

Before I wrap up, I again want to thank the hon. member for her advocacy. I look forward to the debate in the chamber so we can outline the steps that we need to take to address the climate emergency that Canada is facing.